In a feature editorial yesterday and today's AAWP Insight Podcast we discussed the issue around "Other" storage on Windows Phone 8, which sees temporary files gradually taking up more and more storage space on Windows Phone 8 device's internal memory.

In his editorial and on the podcast Ewan advocated a quick fix from either Microsoft or device manufacturers, so it's worth highlighting that a fix may arrive shortly in the form of a firmware / software update. Chinese language site winp.cn reports that a new firmware for the China Unicom Nokia Lumia 920 variant has been uploaded to Navifirm (Nokia's firmware servers) and that it includes an update to the phone storage Settings app that allows temporary files to be "cleared from the device".

The screenshots below show a module within the Settings app. This module may be specific to Lumia devices as it's shown along side other Nokia specific entries at the bottom of the Settings app listing. The new functionality offers a clearer display of how space is being used (circular donut chart) as well as a more detailed breakdown of how space is being used, in addition to the aforementioned functionality to clear temporary files.

winp.cn notes that the user can manually clear temporary files, but that the system can also automatically clean up such files at "timed intervals". This kind of functionality would go a long way to addressing the concerns raised by the "Other" storage issue.

Image source: winp.cn

It's not clear whether this update is what Joe Bellfiore was referring to in a recent tweet when he said "some improvements were coming in a future update". The firmware that reportedly contains functionality is 1232.5957.1308.1004, but it appears a Nokia specific app Settings app (extras+info) update is also required for the storage management features to be present. As such it appears that Nokia is rolling out a temporary solution via an app update, and a more permanent solution will arrive in a platform wide update at a later date.

There are some indications that the 1308 firmware update is scheduled to start arriving in the April or May time frame and that it will also contains a number of other performance and bug fixes, including improvements to imaging, but currently there is no official information, and, as such, this story belongs firmly in the unconfirmed category.